Improvement in apparatus for ejecting refuse matter from steam-vessels



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

JOHN PALMER, OF SANDISFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR EJECTING REFUSE MATTER EROMJSTEAM-VESSELS.

.ipeciiicatiou'forming part or' Letters Patent No. 50,153, dated September 26, 1865.

To Il lzij/mm. 'it may concern:

llc it known that IVIOHN PALMER, formerly ol' Sandistield, in the county oi' Berkshire, in the Stateot'Massachusetts, in theUuited States oi' America, but at present residingi at Ferrol, in the Kingdom ot' Spain, in Europe, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Expellin Solid und Liquid Refuse Mat-ter from Steam and Sailing Ships Below the \Vater-Line, and for analogous purposes; and I do hereby de- 'clarc that the following is a full and exact de ilary lower pressure in the receptacle or barrel,

which, upon heilig hernietically closed by alid or cover, is put into communication with the greaterl pressure by opening.;` a valve, sluice, or

other partition, whereupon the aforesaid matter is ejected or falls into the tluid or gas of greater pressure by means ot' pneumatic or any other elastic iiuid pressure externally applied. This pneumatic or other pressure is likewise applied before opening the cover communicating with wthe lower pressure, -in order to expel the fluid or gas of greater pressure from out the box or receptacle which receives the matter to be disposed of.

My said improvement has for its object the getting'rid of .the ashes, clinkers, and other refuse of the furnaces,ot`a Steamship without the necessity'of hoisting them out of the stokehole;l and it consists in attachingto the bottom or any other convenient part of the ships hold in the vicinity of the furnaces, and sufficiently below the water-line, a water-tight tube, barrel, channel, or receptacle, provided with two suit-able c overs or any number ot' valves, one

ot' them opening within'the Stoke-hole, for the reception ot' the substances required to -be got rid oi, and another or external valve 1s for the purpose ot opening the external communica` tion throughwhich-the` matters to be rejected are passed out ot the ship. -At the 'same time theai'oresaid receptacle is to be supplied with Suitable pressure, as, by example, air forced in by means of a pneumatic pump worked by the steam-engine, or otherwise, which air or other pressure depresses the water and allows the substances vdeposited in the receptacle to fall by their own weight into the sca so'soon as the external valve is opened.' Thus, by opening.

and shutting the valves'alternately and the intervention ofthe air orotherpressureat proper times between the valves, the expulsion ot' the contents of the said submarine receptacle `or apparatus may be'easily and safely effected.

My said improvement is 'also' applicable to the discharging of the contents of sinks and wateryclosets when such sinks and water-closets are iixedbelow the waterlevel in any part of the ship. In this case, inaddition to the pneumatic pump or other air-forcing apparatus, I use a packing of gum-elastic, indiarubber, gutta-percha, or other similar substance,

which I place within a suitable recess or groove- Ato be turned in the top cover and bottom edges ofthe. receptacle,'and against which the valves or covers may rest, being screwed up thereto by strong cross-bars 'and properly-arrau ged pinch bolts, hinges, and clasps, or by any. other .cor "en'ient means, by which the accidental leakage of any offensive etluvia within the ship will `be totally prevented. Although the valvular arrangementis not precisely the same, the modus operandi for this improvement is the same as hereiubefore described.

I propose to apply the same valvular ar cations. I would vlikewise have it to be underv stood that the forms and dimensions of the sea'.

lvessels, receptacles, valves, levers, and such like parts, as well as their arrangement, can be altered and modified, accordi-ng to the peculiar adaptation of my invention to the object which it is desired to effect. y

Figures l, 18,4, 5 represent the ash apparatus, in which a'a is the barrel or receptacle, in which the ashes, clinlrers, or other refuse matter to bedisposed of are to be placed. b is the pipeor tube through which the pneumatie or other pressure is communicated to lthe receptacle a a and valve-box d.

d shows the valvebox, with the valve c. The former in the drawings is shown ofa D. shape, in order that the valve may hang down flat against its side, thereby'oftering no obstacle to the ashes passing through the valve-box into the eis an external lever attached to the valve-spindle, so that tlievalve may be always under the control of the attendant. fis the cover, constitutingthecomniunication between the ash barrel or receptacle and the holdof the ship. The lidfis hermetically closed by means ofthe cross-bar g and the screw h.v In

order to' insure a water-tight t of this lid or cover, I propose tointerpose between the-joint faces a ring, 1', of india-rubber or other material of a similar nature. Y

- clearing-rod, l, b v means of which the said .passage can be perfectly cleared. shown a kind of-iingers, whichopen when the clearing-rod I, to .which theyare attached, is drawn back, and closed when it is pushed for At my iS ward, thereby greatly` i'aeilitatingthe clearing operation. llhe pneumatic pressure may be applied either by a pump or other apparatus,

worked either by hand or by a connection with the engines ofthe vessel, and connnunicating l .by the tube b to the ash apparatus, when the stop-valve a will be opened, therebyestablishing the communication of the pneumatic or other pressure with the interior of the'barrel. The ash apparatus is shown in these five figures-drawntc a scale ot' oneinch to afoot, but the actual dimensions of the said apparatus will be varied according to situation and esi pecial requirements.

rIhemodeofopcratingand action ratus is ,asv follows: The pressure supplied to the apparatus being sufficient to overcome the v0f theappapressure of the water upon the bottom of the ship,it descends below the valve c;.then close the air-valve by the val ve-spinde a,- then close the valve c by th'e lever e, turn to the left the wheel h until the cover j' is raised kclear from the top edge of the barrel lor receptacle a; swing the cover open. Fill the barrel a with ashes; replace the cover, turn the wheel h to its place 5 next open the air-valve by the valvetlie barrel (aand its contents, by their own gravity opening the valve c, fall through into the sca, the lighter particles that would otherwise ioat, being forced by the pressure into. the sea.

Fig. 6 shows the application of my invention to a ships sink or watercloset. In this drawing ais the vessel or receptacle of first deposit; b, the lid or cover to the same, which can be closed hermetically bythe clasp c. dis thevalve communicating `with the vsecondaryvessel e, (under higher pressure,)'whieh secondary vessel is in direct' communication with the sea. The valve d is opened b v alever. attached externally to the spindlef, and kept closed by i the counter-weight g. la hare packing-rings to i insure a water-tight elosin g of thel cover, and valves klv are the openings communicatingwith ting this arrangement is in substance the same asV hereinbefore described with respect to the ash apparatus. The scale of this figure is onequarter size.

Fig. I4 shows how the principle of my inven tion may be applied to the feeding of a cupola or melting furnace 'of which the hot gases are appropriated to other useful purposes-such, for example, as the heating of steam-boilers. Fig. 15 shows the application of the same principle to the feeding of gas-retorts. In both these figures c a is the first receptacle for the charging material; b b, the valve communica-V ting with the furnace or the retort. c c is the external cover, shutting off lcommunication i when the charged material is ejected or let fall into the furnace or retort. Figs. 14 and l5 are drawnv to a foot.

Having now described the nature of my invention andthe manner in which'the saine is to be effected, what I claim is The construction and arrangement ot' apparatus, substantially as herein specified, for exi pellin g solid and liquid substances from ships and other vessels into vthe water below the f waterline, and for other analogouspurposes, l as herein set forth. y

JOHN PALMER. [L. s]

\\'ILLIAM MARTIN,

J Amas MARTIN.

i l i the right-hand until the cover is firmly set to y spindle n. Thus the pressure becomes equal in the pneumaticapparatus. The mode of opera-v Va scale of one-quarter of 'an inch to 

